There are traces of other arts, 17 styles of shoalin, monkey, shuai chiao, eagle claw, ba gua, hsing yi, tong bei, ground boxing etc. In any case, the curriculum at 8 step schools is pretty balanced. No art is the best, but our system is a good resource for fighting and healing knowlege. Most schools have active competition or open mats for challenges. I was taking out TKD blackbelts within my first week of classes using chokes and groundfighting. Most BJJ guys can relate. I sparred the Northeastern MMA Champ 5 few years back in Boston. I forget his name, nice guy, did BJJ. I rolled with him for a few hours, no hitting. What I learned was enough for him to say that I was the hardest person he had ever grappled with outside of BJJ. Our system and school is "traditional" in that it is for fighting. Every training aid, forms, drills, competitions etc is a means to an end, which is combat. We have had fighters in the UFC, regional MMA, San Da, and the current amatuer kickboxing world champion Asa Tenpow. But our focus isn't competition. All schools follow the same curriculum. No 8 step school is a ten for grappling. I have taken out blackbelts in jujitsu using only grappling, but that is not our primary focus. Our primary focus is making well rounded fighters.

Thanks for your input one day I hope to be as knowledgable as you seem to be in the 8step style.

There are traces of other arts, 17 styles of shoalin, monkey, shuai chiao, eagle claw, ba gua, hsing yi, tong bei, ground boxing etc. In any case, the curriculum at 8 step schools is pretty balanced. No art is the best, but our system is a good resource for fighting and healing knowlege. Most schools have active competition or open mats for challenges. I was taking out TKD blackbelts within my first week of classes using chokes and groundfighting. Most BJJ guys can relate. I sparred the Northeastern MMA Champ 5 few years back in Boston. I forget his name, nice guy, did BJJ. I rolled with him for a few hours, no hitting. What I learned was enough for him to say that I was the hardest person he had ever grappled with outside of BJJ. Our system and school is "traditional" in that it is for fighting. Every training aid, forms, drills, competitions etc is a means to an end, which is combat. We have had fighters in the UFC, regional MMA, San Da, and the current amatuer kickboxing world champion Asa Tenpow. But our focus isn't competition. All schools follow the same curriculum. No 8 step school is a ten for grappling. I have taken out blackbelts in jujitsu using only grappling, but that is not our primary focus. Our primary focus is making well rounded fighters.

I'm confused, is how can it be a mixture of many arts (including MT which isn't chinese) and still be a pure CMA? That seems contradictory to me.

The arts mentioned in above this quote on page one are not traditional mantis, and I won't defend that combination. 8stepsifu seems to have it right.

Of course your screen name reminds me of someone... I hope not of course, that guy was a dick. Literally, he thought he could transfer chi power to hot kung fu chicks with his semen, pretty lame pick up line wouldn't you say? But of course, you're not him, are you?

But to the question, how can mantis be a mixed martial art and traditional?

Story has it the mix happened 350 years ago. It is a story of course... But legend has it a number of arts were combined to win a certain contest. Mantis is supposed to cover a number of ranges, including ground work. Once this mix was formalized into a system, of course, it can seem limited just as any system. And the purists out there are of course only going to practice the "mix" as "perfected" by our legendary founder, therefore making it TMA.

Now, Joel Sutton competed in the UFC in 1995, and won two fights against cans whose MMA records are 1-4 and 4-9 respectively. Additionally, he hasn't fought in pro MMA since 1999 according to Sherdog, and his record is 2-4-1

To say, in 2007, that you have a fighter "in the UFC" who hasn't competed in the UFC for over 12 years, and that hasn't competed in any MMA event worth recording since 1999 is just intellectually dishonest.

I'm sorry, but that really is just low down, and if his success in MMA is any indication of the effectiveness of your style, then why you'd even bring his name up is beyond me.